To the Left of the of Exit
by organicapplebutter
Summary: Jane has trouble realizing things when it comes to Maura. But when that finally changes, is it too late? Please review!
1. Chapter 1

A/N Okay, so I rewrote the story, guys. I'm sorry for the sudden change but I think this one is better and more on point. Please review and enjoy!

When I was young, I always had a knack for finding all the exits in the room. I can imagine my eyes darting cordially around landing gently on the green lights of exits signs and greeting them with a smile. Maybe the people I was with thought I was smiling at them when really I was smiling at the thought that I could easily get away from them at the slightest malfunction. Making friends seemed so easy for the other girls at school. They all seemed so close and tight-knit.

Meeting Jane was like taking a hit in the diaphragm by jet powered propulsion. And I mean that in the best way. My jaw would hurt from smiling and my breath would be short and heavy. I've got it under control now, I mean I know better. I can love her with all my heart and sure, she will love me all the same, but I will never get to hold her the way I wish that I could.

Meeting Jane? Yeah, it was a whirlwind, but everyday with her? That's an eternal hurricane.

Maura clicked her way over to Jane's desk and plopped a file down on her desk.

"Hey." Jane smiled up at her friend. The doctor frowned and nudged some paper over to make a little seat on the desk for herself.

"Hello, Jane. Would like to go to lunch? I am quite hungry and I need to get out of the office. Besides, there's a little french a few blocks away I think we could both enjoy?" Maura asked in a soft voice, hoping that Jane would respond in agreement.

"As long as you don't try to feed me snails, we can always go to your little french restaurant." She smiled and gathered up her things. Maura let out a little sigh of a laugh and followed Jane out.

"Oh! And i'm driving." Jane added as she held the door out for Maura. The M.E. gave a small curtsy and led the way to Jane's car.

The restaurant was small and cozy, a quiet place to have lunch, just what Maura had wanted. They were seated at a little table for two. As Maura gazed out the window longing for Paris, Jane ordered herself a beer and a red wine for her Queen of the Dead.

"Hey Maur, are you okay? You seem a bit...distant." Jane inquired, hoping she was just misreading her. Maura lolled her head over towards Jane, leaning her weight on her hands. She smiled softly and reached a hand out towards Jane's.

"Jane, I've missed you." The detective glanced around quizzically, as if the salt and pepper, the activity in the kitchen, the bustling around the room, as if any of that could give her an explanation to whatever she was questioning.

"What do you mean...I see you everyday." She laughed. Maura frowned and then quickly replaced her smile.

"You're right, Jane. I don't really know what I, uh, meant by that..." The tow grew quite until the heaping bowls of pasta they had ordered were delivered. They ate in silence. Both mulling over what Maura had said, what it meant, and why she was acting so strangely. Suddenly, Maura blurted out, "Jane, I need to tell you something!". Jane paused in the middle of her last bite and furrowed her brow.

"Okay...What is it Maur..." She questioned. Maura rubbed her neck that was growing increasingly red and splotchy, debating what or how much she was going to tell her friend.

"I'm seeing someone..."

"That's great, Maura. Uh, uhmm, I'm happy for you. Tell me about him." Maura glanced around nervously, spinning her fork in her nearly untouched bowl of noodles.

"I think I need to go for a walk." She replied in a short, breathy voice. She awkwardly stubbled out of the booth and towards the door.

"Maura?! Wait! I'll drive you!" Jane said impatiently waiving over the waiter.

"No, no. Don't be ridiculous. I need the fresh air." Maura shoved out the door and on to the street, leaving Jane with the check and a bowl full of pasta. Jane plopped don't in her chair thoroughly confused and out of sorts.

"What the hell." She mumbled, handing the waiter the bill and taking the box for Maura's lunch.


	2. Chapter 2

Maura strolled quietly down the street, waving her hands through the fabric of her skirt. She couldn't stop thinking about Jane, the restaurant, and what could have possibly made her say what she had said. Of course, she knew perfectly well why she had said that.

-2 weeks earlier-

"Janie! Come here Maura and I need your help with dinner!" Jane rolled her eyes at her mother then smiled at the sight of her friend.

"Ma, I'll help Maura if you find your way out of the kitchen and leave me alone." Jane teased. Her mother frowned and looked at Maura for help.

"Angela why don't you sit at the bar, have a drink, and then we can all eat together." The M.E. suggested. Angela smiled reluctantly at the pair, but let them continue on their own, sipping at her wine and watching them intently.

Maura quietly swayed her hips back and forth humming some tune neither Jane or her mother were familiar with. She focused her attention on stirring and seasoning some kind of kale, sausage soup for the three of them. Jane smiled at her friend feeling perfectly content in the kitchen with her. They danced around dashing salt and throwing in leafy vegetables here and there. Finally, Maura scooped out ladle-fulls into three ceramic bowls for them to eat and served them up. Maura and Jane sat next to each other while Angela took a place across from the two.

"You two are ridiculous." She commented as they ate the soup. Jane jolted back dramatically and looked aghast at her mother.

"Ma?! We're eating soup! How is that ridiculous you're doing the same thing." Maura laughed as she cooled her spoonful and took another bite.

"No Janie, I mean that you're just inseparable." She said coolly.

As Maura cleaned up the kitchen while Angela and Jane watched the game and hung loosely around like limp clothes on a hanger, she thought really hard about what Jane's mother had said...

 _you're just inseparable._

She and Jane were very close friends, but Maura never knew how close they really were because she had no comparative data to help her reason through her relationship. She began to feel as though she was somehow stifling Jane. Maura began to rub her hands fitfully and become increasingly nervous. Had all the time they spent together, all the times Maura invited Jane to do things or invited herself to do things with Jane, had all of that made Jane feel obligated to be around Maura? She couldn't tell. She swiftly turned of the sink and toweled off her hands. She twirled around to face her friend and couldn't stand it anymore.

"I'm not feeling well. I think I'll go to sleep. You're both welcome to stay in here and finish watching you're game." And with that she stalked upstairs and shut the door behind her, letting out a deep sigh.

"What am I doing?"


End file.
